The Gators did a lot of damage to their NCAA Tournament case on Tuesday night with a road loss to Texas A&M. The Aggies had lost their last eight games heading into that one, but Florida came up short in a game it really needed to win to feel good about its chances to make the NCAA Tournament.
UF is still considered to be a bubble team for the time being, but it’s running out of chances. With the next two games being tough home matchups against Auburn and Arkansas, it could be all but eliminated from tournament contention by the end of the week.
For now, the Gators are listed as having “work to do” on ESPN’s bubble watch. The only other conference team on the bubble is Arkansas, who “should be in,” per ESPN.
The situation in Florida can now be summed up rather simply: At 16-10 and 6-7 in the SEC, the Gators need at least one win in upcoming home games against Auburn and Arkansas. True, we might learn later that UF really needed two victories in that stretch. But going 0-2 against the Tigers and Razorbacks with just one marquee game remaining on the schedule (at home against Kentucky) no longer seems to be an option. Florida is having problems on offense at a very inopportune moment. In a one-point loss at Texas A&M, Gators not named Colin Castleton went 12-of-49 from the floor.
As is mentioned above, winning one of the following two games may not even be enough for a UF squad that has just one Quadrant 1 win on the season and several bad losses. Auburn is among the best teams in the country, and Arkansas is a lot better than this squad right now.
Gators coach Mike White hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament since his first season in Gainesville, but he’s on the brink of doing just that right now. Such a finish in Year 7 after three consecutive first-weekend tournament exits wouldn’t exactly bode well for White’s future in Gainesville.
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